We love the food and the service here. it's one of our favorite restaurants in our neighborhood.read more

Tried Dumpling Story for lunch and enjoyed this spot! Was seated right away and ordered the pig…read moreear, green onion pancake, xiao long bao, dan dan noodles and fried dumpling. Everything was good and I'd definitely come back. Our server was also attentive. -pig ear: crunchy and had good flavor -green onion pancake: thin and crispy, it wasn't oily or heavy -beef xiao long bao: I liked this compared to your usual pork version, was filled with a good amount of soup as well -pan fried dumpling: this dumpling was on the heavier side with thicker skin so I only ate one. it was tasty but I'd want to try a different dumpling next time -dan dan noodles: yummy and light, I liked the smooth texture of the noodles

Food 5/5 You can't ask for the level of quality of the…read moredishes served. Out of the entire course, we love everything, except for the grilled fish. It is because of the type of fish selected. Everything else is spectacular. Service 5/5 Only 9 seats are available at the restaurant. Service is attentive. Ambiance 4/5 It is presented like a speakeasy, hidden on top of the Fermentation Bar. The staircase walking up to the restaurant is a bit worn out. However, we love the ambiance and music inside the restaurant. Note: No dishes can be replaced in this omakase menu, even of allergies or dietary restrictions. Beware!

Really hidden spot with no signage -- we had to ask neighboring restaurants for directions, but it…read morewas absolutely worth finding. The chef was incredibly warm, smiley, welcoming, and attentive throughout the meal. Every ingredient tasted exceptionally fresh, with careful selection of only the best cuts and portions. Highlights included the otoro, wagyu beef, spot shrimp, caviar, green eye fish, and hotaru ika. The omakase was perfectly portioned and thoughtfully paced from start to finish. A truly memorable experience.

Loved this place so much! It is a super tiny space and not ideal for large groups! My bf and I went…read morethere late afternoon in February and they ran out of food shortly after, so be aware of this when u plan to come. So many visuals to teach you how soba is traditionally eaten and what things are. I don't remember exactly what we got tbh but it was delicious

i had been wanting to try sobakatsu for awhile, and i did not realize it was such a small…read moreestablishment. it only seats 11 -- two 4-tops and three bar seats -- so be ready to be in close quarters with other patrons! the entire restaurant is self-serve with clear instructions in the front. find a table, order from the tablet, pick up your order once your number is called, and clean up after yourself after your meal. because of the limited seating, be prepared for a wait. from the time when i arrived to when i received my food was about 40 minutes. the decor, setup, and entire ambiance made it feel very authentic. while i've never been to japan, this is certainly what i would imagine a soba shop in japan to be like! there is also soba-yu on the side to enjoy as a hot drink or to pour into the cold concentrated soba after. this is a very unique thing that i've never seen at other japanese places. now for the food! i ordered a hot soba with assorted tempura, which came with 1 jumbo shrimp, 3 normal shrimp, 1 yam, 1 mushroom, 1 shishito pepper, and 1 imitation crabmeat. the tempura was light and not too doughy. perfect for dipping in the broth! the soba noodles were absolutely delicious in texture and taste, and the broth was perfectly seasoned. as garnish, there is a fish cake, yuzu, and some leafy vegetables which i thought was a great touch. i also got surimi as a side, and this blew me away. it came with four assorted surimi -- mushroom, shrimp, corn, and vegetable. all were incredibly yummy, flavorful, and amazing. i highly recommend sobakatsu and can't wait to come back. next time, i'll come right at opening to ensure i don't have to wait! thank you for the wonderful meal!

Love the food here! I keep coming back again and again even though the line was always long. The…read moreRibs were so delicious. Servers were so friendly and we made several friends while waiting for the bathroom. So epic! The only part i do not like, the higher the price was going up, the more people showing up!

We love this restaurant! Located in the heart of Japan town, walking distance from all the little…read moreshops and boba tea places. We came here today for lunch. Place was packed but they were able to accommodate 3 people right away. We ordered the B4-Short rib with oxtail and cheese. They also provided us with our drinks and side dishes. The ban Chan were delicious, especially the kimchi and green chives. When our platter came, the cheese were all On top of the dish. He melted the cheese with a torch and afterwards we digged in. The short ribs and oxtail were so delicious!!! We ordered the Large so it was full of meat! It was very tender and juicy. The noodle, carrots, onion and potato was so full of flavor! It is a very savory dish. The sauce was wonderful with the purple rice. We love everything about it. All the staff were very nice as well. We were stuffed and still have plenty of leftovers. Glad we finally tried their food and it was worth it!!!

Visiting from NYC on a business trip and decided to check this place out. I'm glad I did! Michelle…read moreis the absolute best server, hands down! She was so polite and gracious as soon as we were seated. We got great recommendations from her about the cuisine and how it is prepared. I had the tonkotsu DX ramen and it was amazing! I also enjoyed the Japanese beer selections. Michelle was definitely the highlight of our dining experience. Thank you, Michelle, you made our last full day in SF super fun!

Food was excellent best ramen in town little bit of a wait but the stores around and then I get a…read moretext best ramen !!!

Always love the ramen here! It's so rich with flavor. The chashu was a nice, thick cut of pork and…read morenoodles were perfect. Unfortunately, I felt my soup was slightly too salty that day. Otherwise, they're usually consistent with their ramen. Got lucky with no wait time for Sunday lunch. Quick, friendly service.

UPDATE: The owner reached out to us shortly after our visit and handled the situation very…read moreprofessionally. They not only refunded the ramen with the issue but generously refunded the entire meal for our party. I truly appreciate the follow-up, accountability, and care--it made a big difference. I came to Hinodeya Ramen today with my partner, and this visit was really disappointing, especially considering I've been coming here for years. On a positive note, my Tokyo Duck ramen was actually very good, great portion and rich, flavorful broth. We also had gyoza and hot sake, which were enjoyable. Ambiance was a bit noisy. However, my partner ordered the beef sukiyaki ramen, and when it came out, there was a thick, short, wavy hair in the bowl, clearly not something that should ever be in food. This is a serious contamination issue. We tried to get our server's attention, and I understand it was busy, but being busy is not an excuse when it comes to food safety. Eventually, another server came over. We showed him the issue, expecting at least a proper apology or some explanation of what happened. Instead, he just took the bowl away and said a quick "I'm sorry" no explanation, no reassurance, nothing. They brought out a new bowl of ramen, but at that point, the experience was already ruined. It's hard to continue eating normally after something like that, it honestly just stays in your mind. What makes this more frustrating is that I've been here many times before with friends, family, and coworkers, and when everything goes right, it's great. But when something goes wrong, the response is just a simple "sorry" with no accountability or communication. Even on my last visit a few months ago, the broth was bland and the response was the same just "I'm sorry." At a minimum, for an issue this serious, there should be clear communication, reassurance about food safety, and a more professional response. Because of both past and current experiences, I don't think I'll be coming back. I really hope they improve their service and train staff to handle serious situations like this more appropriately.

Absolutely loved this place. I tried the summer menu and everything was excellent, from the food to…read morethe drinks to the service. The quality was seriously impressive, and considering the price, this might be the best deal in the city for this level of food. Great flavors, great atmosphere, and definitely a place I'd happily come back to. Strange touch though if the pairing mistake was on the restaurant why take the glass away after I already had a sip? I didn't even care for it much but it still felt awkward.

My friend and I came here for a girl's lunch to enjoy their $45 special. I was pleased to see there…read morewas a vegan option here and was excited to try it. My friend ordered the duck. I ordered the Lion's Mane Mushroom. *A lovely note for the vegans and lactose-intolerant: there is a dairy-free option for the Thai iced tea (made with coconut milk). Given that this was a Michelin guide restaurant, we had certain expectations of the place and sadly we were disappointed. While the service was friendly and the server knowledgeable on the menu, the service itself was severely lacking in detail you'd expect from a $$$$ type of place. Our drinks came out first, followed by the appetizer, then came EVERYTHING ELSE all at once. Papaya Salad Daikon Soup Trio of rice (purple, brown, white) Curry + protein (duck for my friend, lion's mane mushroom for me) We tried to tackle the soup first. It came in an artsy looking bowl with undulated/rouged edges that was awkward to drink from but equally awkward to spoon the soup from. The daikon was VERY WOODY. Both my friend and I awkwardly spit out splintery fibers and left them on our plate. Some of my daikon chunks were fine but my poor friend had double the amount of woody mass collecting on her plate which was really unsightly, especially when you're supposed to be at a nice place. I can't say I've ever encountered this with daikon before at a restaurant. It's pretty easy to see which parts of the daikon are too mature to use. Next we tried to get on to our entree as that was cooling quickly. Unfortunately the curries were already somewhat congealed by the time we made our way to it. The vegan one was pretty good, but again, I had some woody bits in my food. I don't know if that's from the mushroom or if it was from another ingredient but the splintery clumps amassing on the side of our plates was not what we had imagined we'd be doing at a Michelin guide restaurant.... My friend's duck wasn't much better. She complained about the awkward texture and wound up spitting out half of that one her plate. -not to mention, her meal was served to her without a steak knife. After waiting for much too long, she got up to go request a knife and walked the knife back to the table like a psycho. I'm not trying to sound entitled here, but when a restaurant is supposed to be "nice" and has "$$$$", you sort of expect a certain caliber of service. Having to go ask for a knife when you ordered a chunk of meat does seem like a miss. For what it's worth, the curries for both of us had a unique blend of flavors. My friend had a penang currty sweetened with lychee. I don't remember what kind of curry mine was, but it was tasty with a kick in the end. Curry to rice ratio was perhaps 1:3. We had to ask for extra curry to accompany the protein and rice to balance everything out. It would have just been so pasty and dry otherwise (you know, since everything was already congealed...) By the time we got around to our papaya salad, it had gone from chilled to room temp. While it was tasty, it wasn't as refreshing as the salad could be. We're not sure why all courses were served at once, or if that's how this specific lunch service goes? The best course of the day was 100% the dessert. Order the vegan dessert! "Mango-sticky rice ice cream". It was a homemade mango ice cream with coconut milk base. It sounds basic but these ingredients were masterfully put together to create something truly unique. Not sure where the rice was in this whole situation, but who cares! This dessert was incredible! Lightly sweet, creamy and freshing. It arrived like a piece of art, like a glossy, glimmering mango sculture. The way that chilled mango puree spilled over, coating the ice cream underneath... It clung on to the ice cream layer just barely coating it for most perfect combination of sweet and creamy. It was unfortunate I got the last one for the day. My friend had the cheesecake which she said was tasty but not mindblowing like my mango ice cream. It also was... not so glorious. In fact, it looked small and flat, like a half used stack of mini post-it notes. All in all, it was a fun experience. The dishes were familiar favorites with a creative twist. For $45, it wasn't bad but I don't know about coming back for the $$$$ dinner experience based on this visit. Maybe we'll be back for the $40-$45 prefixe again in the future.